Board games entertain the whole family and provide a fun way for children to learn and develop essential skills such as critical thinking, logical reasoning, patience, teamwork, problem-solving, communication and more! They also serve as invaluable tools for social interaction. In a world filled with screens, board games offer children opportunities to engage face-to-face, practice turn-taking, and hone their interpersonal skills. They also provide valuable lessons in sportsmanship, perseverance, managing disappointment, and celebrating achievements.
With thousands of game choices, deciding which one to buy can be overwhelming. To help make your choices easier, we’re highlighting some of our favourites that we think your child will love. Here’s a list of our recommendations:
Scrabble Junior
Scrabble Junior is a fun and easy word game for ages three and up! This takes and simplifies the original Scrabble game, challenging players to match the letters on the board to complete words. There are eye-catching picture clues on the board and quirky character tokens to track your score. Don’t worry about your children getting bored because once they have mastered the letter-matching, they can turn the board over and come up with their own words. It’s a great and fun way for children to learn how to spell and build their vocabulary.
UNO & UNO Junior
This classic card game helps children practice matching colours and numbers while also teaching them about pattern recognition, decision-making, and strategy. It’s easy to learn and provides plenty of opportunities for friendly competition and fun. It’s also a very adaptable game, as its simple rules and flexible gameplay make it accessible to young people of all ages and abilities. UNO Junior simplifies it even more, adding matching animal illustrations to each number card so that children who don’t know their numbers can still play.
Catan Junior
Catan Junior is a simplified version of the classic strategy game that teaches children resource management, negotiation skills, and basic strategy while mixing adventure and exploration. As each player collects resources, builds pirate hideouts, and expands their island, they must make critical decisions to increase their chances of victory. The gameplay encourages creativity and imagination and is entertaining for the whole family.
Ticket to Ride
Ticket to Ride is a cross-country train adventure game which challenges players to connect cities to build train routes across North America. It’s simple to learn and offers a great balance of luck and strategy. It’s a fun and interactive way to introduce children to geography. As they build their train routes, they learn the locations of cities and countries. They also develop their math skills by calculating distances between cities. Overall, Ticket to Ride offers a good blend of educational, strategic, and social benefits and can provide hours of fun for the whole family.
Forbidden Island
This game was a 2010 Mensa Favorite Brainy Games Winner for children ten and over. In this cooperative game, players work together to collect treasure from a sinking island before it disappears into the ocean. The gameplay promotes strategic thinking, problem-solving, risk assessment, and planning. Because the game heavily relies on teamwork, successes are celebrated together, and failures are used as opportunities to learn and adapt as a team. It’s fun to play and look at with its fantastic artwork and game pieces. This is an excellent choice for family game night!
Sushi Go!
Sushi Go! is a fast-moving card game where players pass cards to each other to collect the right combination of sushi dishes to score points. The rules and mechanics are easy to learn, and your children will love the vibrant artwork on each card. The fast-paced gameplay is suitable for kids with shorter attention spans, and it will help develop your child’s decision-making prowess and strengthen their strategic thinking and math skills.
You won’t be bored with these board games! We hope this helps you plan your next family game night!